This NY Times story announces the launch of a project for higher education in Israel that promises to bring Israeli Jews and Arabs together, through the generous efforts of individuals who may surprise many as promoters of peaceful coexistence and social progress (i.e., Texas Governor Rick Perry and Rev. John Hagee):
October 21, 2013
Texas A&M Pursues a Campus in Israel
HOUSTON — When Gov. Rick Perry visits Israel this week, he will leave a surprising piece of Texas behind: his alma mater, Texas A&M University.
Mr. Perry will join Texas A&M leaders and Israeli officials in Jerusalem on Wednesday to announce the creation of Texas A&M Peace University, a branch campus of the sixth largest university in the United States. It will be built in Nazareth, known as the Arab capital of Israel. . . .
Officials said the campus would offer undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs, with instruction in English. A potential site in Nazareth has been identified, but no financing has been obtained yet. They said fund-raising efforts would begin within weeks, but declined to offer a fund-raising goal.
As many as 5,000 students will study there, officials said, with most coming from the Arab communities in and around Nazareth. Arabs make up more than 20 percent of the population of Israel, but only 11 percent of the student body in the country’s higher-education system, said Manuel Trajtenberg, who runs the system as a member of the Council for Higher Education in Israel. . . .
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